Page 50 of Natural Passion

The Holts smiled and tried very hard not to stare at my dick, though Mrs. Holt kept glancing at it, her lips twitching every time. I guessed Eve hadn't told them the resort rules.

"I'm pleased to meet you too, Mr. and Mrs. Holt," I said. "You've raised quite a woman in Eve."

The woman in question hadn't moved or closed her mouth. I wondered if she was breathing. Her chest was rising and falling, so I decided she wasn't in danger of passing out from lack of oxygen.

"Call me Donna," Mrs. Holt said. "Or maybe you should call me Mom?"

Eve roused from her catatonic state with a jolt, blinking rapidly. "Mom, honestly, I met Val this week."

"Mm-hmm." She swept her gaze over me again. "But you must really like him. You were holding hands when you came back from the hot spring, where you'd been all alone together."

"Yeah," Mr. Holt said, "and you haven't called us since last Thursday. When Mom texted you the other day, you claimed to be too busy for that. We knew something was up, and Donna bet me fifty bucks it was a boy."

No one had called me a boy in at least fifteen years.

Mr. Holt clapped me on the shoulder. "Call me Larry. Dad can wait until the wedding's arranged."

Eve spluttered for a moment before she managed to speak. "We're not engaged, for Christ's sake. I haven't called because I've been busy. A pipe burst in the guest house and then I had to fire Quentin—"

"Oh, we heard about that," Donna said. She threw an arm around her daughter's shoulders and urged her to walk. "Heidi filled us in on the soap opera, and on your new beau."

Larry gripped my shoulder hard. "Let's have a little man-to-man chat while the girls catch up. What do you say?"

What could I say? "Of course, let's chat."

Chapter Seventeen

Eve

My dad dragged Val away from the crowd that had gathered around us. I watched the two of them retreating from view behind the throng of guests and wondered what on earth my father was up to. He never interrogated my boyfriends. Not that Val was my boyfriend. What was he, then? My lover, I supposed. I did not want to tell my parents that, though I had my suspicions the other guests had spilled those beans long before Val and I traipsed out of the woods.

What should I say to my parents?Hey, guess what, I'm screwing a virtual stranger who made a notorious sex tape and used to strip in public. You can probably catch video of both on YouTube.

Since Val said he had the sex tape on his phone, I supposed my parents didn't need internet access to view my lover's past escapades. If they asked, he would show them. He was just that kind of shameless exhibitionist.

And I loved that side of him.

I must've lost my mind, right? Sleeping with a man I barely knew. Getting naked outdoors. Heidi had seen us in the hot spring. I hadn't been caught getting it on with a guy since my sophomore year of college when my brother Andrew had barged into my dorm room unannounced. He'd wanted to surprise me with a visit. Oh yeah, I'd been surprised all right. My brother had gotten a good look at my tits before his face turned crimson and he scampered back into the hallway. Andrew and I never told a soul about that incident.

Somehow, today had been more embarrassing. I was a grown woman, thirty years old, not a college sophomore. But this time, everyone knew what I'd been doing with a guy.

Bye-bye, privacy.

"Evie," my mom said, "why didn't you tell us you have a beau?"

I'd never been good at lying to my mom, so I told the truth—partially. "It's not like that. Val and I met four days ago. Please don't start planning the wedding."

Yeah, I omitted the fact neither I nor Val wanted a romantic entanglement, much less a commitment.

Mom slung an arm around my shoulders and gave me a good squeeze. "You might be my baby, but you're an adult. I won't judge your choices. Have I ever complained about one of your boyfriends, even the ones I didn't like?"

"No."

"I like Val."

"You met him five seconds ago."

She tipped her head side to side, then gave a decisive nod. "I can tell if a man is good or bad news in thirty seconds or less. Val is a good one."

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